~*~Tears of Immortality~*~
by MelMel2
Summary: Preface. The world after the end of the game, since I felt the ending didn't give justice. Major spoilers.
1. Preface

Tears of Immortality: Part 1   
A fanfic based on Final Fantasy VII by MelMel 

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* is a character's thoughts   
/.../ is a sound effect or mind conversation   
(...) is the Planet speaking 

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Final Fantasy VII is © ® and TM to SquareSoft, 1997-2000, 2001-2002. There are spoilers, so in case you haven't finished the game, you may want to go back and complete it. Come on, though, it's been six years. Finish it already. :P ToI is about life after the game has finished and everyone has gone their separate ways. Do enjoy! ^_^ 

By the way, I wrote this initially a year or two ago, so don't flame me for being stupid too much. *blushes* 

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Preface   
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The planet was so quiet. After so much suffering, it could travel on the path to recovery. JENOVA was gone, the Cetra were dead, and the Weapons were destroyed. Finally, there could be peace. 

***** 

Cloud stared off the cliff, high above the plains, to a place far in the distance. The smoldering reddish spot on the Earth that was Midgar only a few days ago was now a jumbled pile of metal and still-burning once-MAKO reactors. 

*It seems like such a long time ago.* 

Cloud sighed and turned away to climb down the mountain where the solemn faces of Tifa Lockheart, Red XIII, Vincent Valentine, and Cait Sith awaited him. They were all that was left of the original party of 8, no, 9. Cloud swallowed a tear at the thought of his late lover, Aerith Gainsborough. She had died so quickly... 

Everyone else had lives to return to. Barret Wallace, the large, foul-mouthed black man with a gun-arm, went back to North Corel with his young daughter, Marlene, and Elmyra, Aerith's caretaker, to rebuild the community and start up the coal mines again. Cid Highwind had returned to Rocket Town, to attempt to create his own rocket fueled by an alternative energy source that he liked to call 'biomass energy.' Not to mention he had to patch up his relationship with a certain Shera. And yes, after much pestering from Yuffie, he did muster up enough courage to "pop the question" to her. They would be married in five or six months. The bratty teenager from Wutai, Yuffie Kisaragi, had gone home to take her father's mantle as leader and high priestess of the small tourist attraction town. Godo Kisaragi had happened to be in Midgar buying a few new concubines to play with when Meteor hit it. Ah, what a game fate plays... 

Cloud reached the bottom of the mountain and nodded at his companions. Tifa and Vincent had no life to return to. Tifa, who's bar had been blown up when Meteor hit, didn't have a gil to her name, or a place to call home, since Midgar had exploded. And Vincent... well... he didn't have a life to begin with. Red XIII wanted to become more mature and older to become the efficient leader of Cosmo Canyon. Ever since his "grandfather" had died, Nanaki had strived to be his absolute best. Cait Sith, on the other hand, was different. He was Reeve, best described as the good side of Shin-Ra Inc., only in Kalm, and without the MAKO, weapons, or funding. His 'puppet', Cait Sith, stayed with Cloud to give him updates and news on the political situation in Kalm, and anything else he might need. 

Cloud mounted his black chocobo, Abyss, and reined himself over to talk to his party. 

"We should travel to the Midgar ruins. To help out, and try to find any survivors. We could salvage too. There might be some materia lost in what's left of the city." 

Tifa smiled slightly and got on her gold chocobo, Tilly. 

*Was it really only a year ago that Cloud would have turned up his nose at helping anyone other than himself?* 

They all began to ride over the mountain to Midgar, where, only a little while ago, there was a great struggle between good and evil. Good prevailed by destroying two of the greatest evils the Planet had ever seen: Meteor and man. Plus one especially evil man, who had wanted to be a god. 

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Oh, please don't flame me too much... I'll upload part two on Sunday (1/20) for all ya'll who care, okay? ~*~MelMel~*~ 


	2. Part 1 - Remembrance

**~*~Tears of Immortality~*~** Part 1   
A fanfic based on Final Fantasy VII by MelMel 

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* is a character's thoughts   
/ is a sound effect or mind conversation   
( is the Planet speaking 

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Final Fantasy VII is © ® and TM to SquareSoft, 1997-2000. 2001-2002 There are spoilers, so if you haven't finished the game, you may want to go back and do that. Come on, it's been four years. Finish it already. :P ~*~ToI~*~ is about life after the game has finished and everyone has gone their separate ways. Do enjoy! ^_^ 

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Part 1 

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Tifa shook her head and bent over, picking up a half-burned rag doll lying in the arms of a singed dead little girl from the Sector 5 Slums. Red XIII sifted through rubble, and howled, hoping that a survivor might hear him. Cait Sith cried cute little tears at the sight of the city and people he had known and watched over so well, from being the Head of Public Relations for Shin-Ra, that were now dead. Vincent floated a couple of inches above the ground, impassive and annoyed, his face a mask of sadness as a young girl of about 10 clung to his cape. The only survivor after ten hours of searching had wide eyes, and it was strange, but no one seemed to see her. Vincent himself, though, couldn't help but think that this girl could have been a child of Lucrecia and his. Cloud was searching eastward, hacking through large chunks of metal, that appeared to have once been a large sewer pipe. After a few moments, a bright green light shone over him. He frowned, shaking off thoughts of the warm, renewing light of the Lifestream. 

Tifa ran over to where Cloud silently watched the light of Aerith's old home wash over him. She touched his hand lightly and smiled softly. 

"Cloud..." 

He shook his head violently, backing up. He moved his hand away from Tifa's, sheathing his sword, the Ultimate Weapon. Cloud turned away, walking out of the small slum town to one of the few roads left from all of the piled-up garbage. Red XIII watched as Tifa stepped towards him. She sighed, 

"It's still too much for him to handle. All of it. He reached out to hold Aerith's hand again less than a week ago. Sometimes I wish..." 

She sighed again. Red XIII nuzzled her hand gently; knowing how much Tifa really loved Cloud. 

"Just give him some time, Tifa. He'll come around, but it'll take a while." 

Tifa walked out of the slum as well. Red XIII silently followed, glancing back at his two remaining friends. Cait Sith nodded to Vincent without even looking at the girl by his side, and bounced after Red. It was silent for a moment. Vincent then stepped to the ground and looked into the eyes of the trembling girl. He spoke, making her jump a little. 

"Don't be frightened. It's all over now. What's your name?" 

"Aerith Immortalis." 

She said this boldly, green eyes flashing, fists clenched. It startled Vincent that no matter how scared she appeared, she really wasn't frightened at all. It was actually quite the contrary. She looked brave enough to face Sephiroth on her own. But there was a calm about her that seemed to glow, like an aura. But mainly, it was the appearance, and that name... 

***** 

Cloud polished his chocobo's saddle with a maddening obsession, silent and deadset on the single task. Tifa stared at him quietly, fearful of what he might be thinking. Red XIII walked up to Cloud and tensed himself. 

"Cloud..." 

He continued to scrub at the saddle, ignoring the people watching him concernedly from behind. Red growled and jumped at Cloud, knocking him out with a paw kick to the back of his head. He shook his fire-like mane, and flicked his tail, and moved to stand before Tifa and Cait Sith. 

"We should get going to an inn so that he can rest. There's a lot on his mind." 

They both simply nodded. 

***** 

Vincent crouched before the little Aerith and suddenly recalled the first time he had heard that name. 

/flash/ 

A pretty girl in a pink dress. It was ten years ago- -almost thirty if you counted the amount of time Vincent spent in his coffin sleeping- - and even so, Vincent shouldn't have even been looking at a girl so young. But he did anyway. Being a Turk, what did he care about the law? He could get away with any sort of crime he wanted, as long as he did his job. He approached her. 

"Hello, Pretty One." 

Her eyes flashed with that same emerald light... the one that shone like MAKO, but somehow different. But she still smiled, pulling a yellow-orange flower from her basket and offered it to him. 

"For you, Sir. You'll need it for your love, your joy. And for your pain." 

Vincent looked at her strangely as she began to walk away. 

"How did you...?" 

"I can just feel it, Sir. My name is Aerith Lansford, and I am not the one you seek. She will come soon." 

"But..." 

"Goodbye...and never forget yourself...Vincent Valentine." 

/flash/ 

Vincent stared at a lovely young woman at the inn in the town of Nibelheim. He grinned the impish grin of a young man's big ego and walked towards her. He bowed, and handed her the flower given to him by Aerith. It had been a month or more since he had received it (you seemed not to care too much about time when you were a Turk, even a brand-new recruit as he was.), but it still looked freshly-picked and new, and he didn't seem to notice or care much. 

"For you, Dear...?" 

"Lucrecia." 

/flash/ 

"Go away!" 

/flash/ 

"Vincent... Hojo and I are both scientists..." 

/flash/ 

"This is all your fault, Vincent Valentine." 

***** 

Vincent's jaw dropped slowly. He blinked at the exact resemblance between this girl and that one. Except this little Aerith was missing the hairpiece atop her brunette head- - the one that held the white materia- - Holy. 

But the Aerith he had met in the slums almost forty years ago... her last name was Lansford... then there was Aerith Gainsborough, whom they had all known and loved so much... and now... Aerith... Immortalis...? 

"Aerith... would you please do something for me?" 

She nodded her head, large eyes never once blinking. 

"Can we call you by a different name for now?" 

She nodded again. 

"But only if you call me Aerin with an 'ae'." 

Vincent nodded solemnly. He stood and pulled a slightly dirty blue dress from his cape. 

"Change into that and fix your hair differently." 

"But why, Mr. Vincent Valentine?" 

He blinked. How did she know his name? Something about this girl ruined his usually perfect composure. 

"You look exactly like... a deceased friend of mine. You might distress my friends. They miss her, you see, and it might be a sad reminder to see you looking like her." 

"What's 'deceased' mean?" 

"It means... gone away for a very long time. Now change." 

He turned away. Vincent could find no other way to teach such an innocent child about the one life that you lived to get to just one of the so many deaths that existed in this world. Aerith, no... Aerin now, stepped before him and slipped her hand into his claw. 

"Let's go. I wanna meet your friends, Mr. Vincent Valentine." 

He nodded and walked with Aerin at the speed of a skipping ten-year-old. 

***** 

Cait Sith watched as Vincent walked out with the girl. It was like... sorrow skipping along with joy. He smiled at the analogy he created and thought, 

*How sweet.* 

Vincent glared at their shining faces, praising the fates that Yuffie, Cid, and Barret, the notorious loudmouths of the group, weren't there to comment. He sat Aerin on his chocobo and began to lead the way out of the destroyed metropolis. Aerin looked horrified. 

"Mr. Vincent Valentine! You can ride the chocobo. I'll walk! I used to walk to the Wall Market from this sector every day. I can do it!" 

He simply shook his head. 

"No. You're safer on Chocobo." 

They began to walk ahead; Cloud sprawled like a lead weight over Abyss' back. Aerin started to ask questions, just like ten-year-olds tend to do. 

"Doesn't your chocobo have a name, Mr. Vincent Valentine?" 

"No." 

"May I name her then?" 

"I don't see why not." 

"Let's see... I'll name her..." 

Tifa and Red XIII eyed each other and smiled a little. Red continued the gesture to Cait Sith. The cat hid a smile under his paw. He hadn't seen the dark man so... happy? Confused? Amused? Himself? Since he had been a Turk 10 years ago. All that was missing was that impish grin... 

"...Lucrecia!" 

Everybody stopped dead in their tracks and turned to stare at the little girl. A large shiver racked Vincent's body. He grabbed the chocobo's reins and swallowed nervously. 

"Do you mean the... chocobo? Name the chocobo... Lucrecia?" 

"Of course, Silly." 

"Well then... *ahem* Lucrecia... a beautiful name..." 

They began to walk again, the only noise being the warbling chocobos and a little girl singing a song she had made up about them. 

***** 

Tifa let her mind roam on thoughts about the little Aerin. They had been going at a walking pace for a while now, so the girl had told their party a lot about herself. She had been born in Gongaga town, her parent's names were Fayel and Yon, she loved flowers and kittens, and hated rain and Shin-Ra. She was a likeable child, but something about her appearance... no not even that... her aura... was strikingly familiar. Tifa wanted to shake it off, but somehow, she couldn't. Aerin carried an aura that wanted to be remembered. It was odd... 

***** 

Cait Sith bounced before the little girl and asked her a question. 

"So... did you have any brothers or sisters?" 

"Yeah, Mister Reeve. I had a brother named Zax." 

Cait Sith's mog stopped bouncing. She knew he was just a doll? But how- - and Zax? Surely just a coincidence. The puppet was glad that Cloud was still out cold from the hit Red gave him to the head. They were almost to Kalm, so Reeve could turn off Cait Sith for a little while. A vacation was all he needed. A week in Costa del Sol perhaps. He regained his senses and walked away from the smiling girl. 

***** 

Red XIII took his turn to talk to the girl. 

"Aerin...?" 

"Yes, Nanaki?" 

Red was surprised, but tried to act as though it had never been said. Only the team knew his real name... the team and the people of Cosmo Canyon. 

"Where was you family when Meteor hit?" 

The innocent Aerin answered without a bat of her eye. 

"They died about a month ago of a sickness that went through Gongaga... MAKO poisoning. Momma said that if I left the city, I might live. So I took the family chocobo and ran away with another kid called Jameson about a year ago, but he fell off and broke his neck. My magic wouldn't work. So I was alone." 

"How did you stay alive?" 

"What do you mean? I was just fine. I didn't need anything." 

"Not even food?" 

"If I found some, I ate a little bit, but I think I only stopped to eat twice." 

Red frowned. 

"How long did it take you to get from Gongaga to Midgar?" 

"Four months." 

Red XIII blinked and began to stalk away, confused. What a strange little girl. Before he was entirely gone, he turned around and asked one more thing. 

"Where did you stay once you reached Midgar?" 

"In a church... where there were flowers." 

***** 

Cloud moaned and rubbed his head. He heard only silence, smelled only air, and felt only a splitting headache. He stirred slightly and opened his eyes. What he saw nearly made him pass out once again. 

"Hey, Cloud Strife. I brought you a flower. I hope you like blue. I picked this one because I thought it would match your eyes." 

"Ae- aerith?" 

"No, silly. Vincent told me to tell everyone that my name was Aerin. So it is. Right?" 

"Am I... dead?" 

"No, Cloud Strife, Nanaki knocked you out because you were a danger to yourself and those around you. You're in a hotel in Kalm at the moment. Get some rest now." 

The little girl that looked exactly like Aerith hovered above Cloud, leaning over him, sitting next to him on his bed. She hummed a quiet song as she played with the blue flower between her fingers. Cloud slowly faded back into unconsciousness, most likely from shock, shock from finding his true love again. So she wasn't dead... She came from the dead to be with him... he wouldn't have to be alone anymore... 

***** 

Okee-dokie, that's part one! I haven't written any more in a year now, so maybe I can get crackin' and make parts two and three within the next couple weeks. I'm hoping this will eventually turn into a Vincent x Aerith, but I've got to work with the age difference thing there... I don't know yet. Suggestions? ~*~MelMel~*~ 


End file.
